June 02, 2015

BBVA Compass culinary tour partner El Celler de Can Roca, owned by the famed Roca brothers, has claimed the top spot in Restaurant magazine's World's 50 Best Restaurants List.

It's the second time the Girona, Spain-based restaurant has landed at No. 1 on the prestigious list. The Roca brothers trio, all of whom are BBVA brand ambassadors, accepted the award at an awards gala Monday night in London. Joan, Josep and Jordi Roca will launch their second BBVA-sponsored gastronomic tour on August 1, and will recreate their restaurant's experience for BBVA Compass clients in Houston, Birmingham, Ala., and Miami.

"Congratulations to El Celler de Can Roca and to the innovative Roca brothers," said BBVA Compass Chairman and CEO Manolo Sanchez. "Their efforts to push the envelope and create extraordinary experiences for their clients are well aligned with the bank's mission to do the same. It is an honor to be working with them again this year."

El Celler de Can Roca was last crowned No. 1 in 2013, and has claimed one of the top two spots on the British magazine's list for the past five years. The annual event is considered one of the highest recognitions in the culinary world.

"The holy trinity of head chef Joan's thoughtful but original cooking, pastry chef Jordi's imagination-defying desserts and sommelier Josep's beautifully considered wine pairings already adds up to significantly more than the sum of its parts, before you add in a vibrant family dynamic and a deep sense of hospitality," Restaurant magazine said of the trio on its website after the 2015 award was announced.

The list is compiled based on the opinions of professional chefs, reporters and food critics from all over the world. Each region has a dedicated panel of 36 experts, headed by a chairperson.

"It was a magical moment experiencing the same feelings as two years ago," said Joan Roca. "This recognition makes us very happy, but it is above all down to our team, which is unquestionably the best in the world, and all those who have supported us all this time. We will endeavor to carry the title responsibly."

2015 BBVA-El Celler de Can Roca Tour

Over five weeks this summer, Joan, Josep and Jordi Roca, accompanied by 40 of their staff members, will serve more than 2,500 BBVA customers and guests in Buenos Aires in Argentina; Miami, Houston and Birmingham, Alabama, in the U.S.; and Istanbul in Turkey. Their journey will recreate the experience from their top-rated restaurant.

During this second edition of the tour, a total of 100,000 dishes will be served in six countries. Over the two tours in 2014 and 2015, the brothers will have traveled almost 75,000 miles, equivalent to circumnavigating the world three times.

April 06, 2015

Leading Caterers of America (LCA) announces the availability of its inaugural cookbook, Fifteen Chefs: Inspiring & Innovative Recipes from the Leading Caterers of America. Following the official book launch at the Catersource and Event Solutions Conference & Tradeshow in March, this collection of enticing recipes from some of the country's most well respected chefs is now available for purchase online from the Catersource Store. For more information and to purchase the Fifteen Chefs cookbook, please visit: catersourcestore.miiduu.com/fifteen-chefs-cookbook.

Catersource and the LCA present a collection of large-yield recipes straight from the kitchens of top catering chefs. A compilation of the premier appetizers, entrees, desserts, and other tasty delights that perform best when made in large quantities, "Fifteen Chefs" features recipes from a wide swath of cuisines and styles. The book also includes unique plating options, as well as guidance on how to develop in smaller portions first - both yields for 10 and 50 are included with each recipe. This unique catalog of vibrant dishes and ideas from the LCA companies will help you dazzle any crowd.

The Leading Caterers of America (LCA) is a consortium comprised of many of the most successful caterers in North America. Known as industry trendsetters, LCA companies represent quality in all aspects of the catering and events trade, and have won innumerable industry and client awards of distinction.

Over the past year, Catersource and the LCA have been working with top chefs from all corners of the U.S. and Canada to compile some of the best dishes made in large quantities. For this book, chefs were flown to either Miami, Florida, or Portland, Oregon, to discuss and then cook these recipes on the spot. Fresh out of the oven or off the top of the grill, each dish was then plated, photographed and critiqued. The recipes were edited by award-winning caterer Jack Milan, Culinary Director for the LCA and President/CEO of Different Tastes catering company.

"After a successful launch at Catersource 2015, we are excited to extend the availability of 'Fifteen Chefs,'" said Kathleen Stoehr, Publisher and Executive Editor of Catersource magazine. "The cookbook offers caterers the opportunity to learn from some of the most talented chefs in the industry. Members of the LCA represent the top catering businesses across the country, delivering not only outstanding cuisine, but also highly attentive service and creative presentation."

March 02, 2015

If you know an outstanding retail produce manager, nominate them for the 2015 United Fresh Retail Produce Manager Awards. This program pays special recognition to produce managers on the front line, working everyday to increase sales and consumption of fresh produce.

This year, 25 produce managers will be honored for their commitment to:

Innovative Merchandising

Produce-Related Community Service

Company Recognition

Commitment to Customer Satisfaction

The winners and their Corporate Produce Directors will receive FREE travel and registration to United Fresh 2015 in Chicago and be recognized at the Retail-Foodservice Celebration Dinner.

"The impact of this program goes well beyond the award. We have seen first-hand the pride and confidence that our Produce Managers gain through this achievement for their hard work - it helps make them stronger produce professionals," said Mike Tipton, Director of Produce/Floral Operations, Food City.

February 04, 2015

The HALL Cabernet Cookoff will return for a sixth year on April 25 featuring an all-star line-up of both Napa Valley and San Francisco-based chef teams. Bringing together foodies and wine for a culinary pairing challenge, chef teams will compete before a panel of all-star judges including Ken Frank, Virginie Boone, Ian White and Lars Kronmark, for a local charity of their choice by creating small bites paired with HALL 2012 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. All proceeds from ticket sales and 100 percent of donations made online and from sponsors will go directly to charities.

During the event, guests will be invited to taste farm-to-table dishes from each chef team paired with HALL wine and then vote on their favorite for the People’s Choice Award. “The Cabernet Cookoff is a fun way to experience great Napa Valley cuisine and wonderful wines while helping our community,” says vintner, Kathryn Walt Hall. “Everyone involved with this event including our generous sponsors, talented chef teams, enthusiastic non-profit organizations and the entire HALL and WALT staff all donate their time to create a spectacular day. Every year, everyone at the Cabernet Cookoff comes out a winner.”

The 2014 HALL Cabernet Cookoff drew more than 600 food and wine lovers for a sold out crowd and raised $66,000 for local charities. Last year’s winning chef teams included One Market Restaurant and Paula Le Duc Catering who took top honors for their selected charities, Napa Hospice & Adult Day Service and St. Helena Hospital Foundation.

Tickets: Early Bird $70.00 (until April 1)

General Admission Ticket $80.00 (after April 1 and at the door)VIP Sky Loft $125 (private access to the Bergfeld Loft, VIP service of limited production HALL Bergfeld wine, specially catered food pairings, and knowing you are helping the community even more!)

January 19, 2015

After a thrilling cook-off, two teams of student chefs from The Culinary Institute of America are one step closer to Super Bowl glory.

The team of Matthew F. Johnson and Cullen Folks and the team of Marie Taccino and Olivia DeSalvo have advanced to the finals of PepsiCo's "Game Day Grub Match," a unique culinary competition in search of the next great Super Bowl party dish. Each team will now compete in Arizona – the site of Super Bowl XLIX – to determine who will be named the first-ever "Game Day Grub Match" champion.

The winner will be crowned on Saturday, January 31 at Taste of the NFL's annual "Party with a Purpose." The winning team will earn tickets to Super Bowl XLIX and receive $5,000 in scholarship money.

Each team incorporated PepsiCo food and beverage products as ingredients to create unique Super Bowl dishes. The finalists are:

Matthew F. Johnson from Duluth, Minnesota, and Cullen Folks from Atlanta, Georgia, who created Tostitos Chipotle Chicken Tacos. This dish is served in a grilled flour tortilla with Tostitos Salsa- and Pepsi-marinated chicken and sides of a Sabra Guacamole-based salsa verde and Sierra Mist red cabbage slaw.

Marie Taccino from Dallas, Texas, and Olivia DeSalvo from Broomall, Pennsylvania, who created Naked Chia Cherry Lime Pork Sliders, topped with Pepsi-candied bacon. The dish is served on a homemade Quaker Oats and Fritos biscuit with a side of Muller Tropicana Slaw.

"It has been impressive and inspiring to watch these promising young chefs from The Culinary Institute of America use PepsiCo products to create two amazing dishes. They challenged themselves and used our brands in innovative ways to create great flavors that would be a hit at any Super Bowl party," said PepsiCo Corporate Executive Research Chef Stephen Kalil. "PepsiCo has played a starring role at Super Bowl parties for generations, and these Game Day Grub Match recipes are going to take football party menus to the next level."

PepsiCo will allow fans to watch the teams compete and follow their road to the Super Bowl starting January 20 by visitingwww.gamedaygrubmatch.com and by subscribing to PepsiCo's Twitter channel @PepsiCo, keeping an eye on #GameDayGrubMatch.

The first round of "Game Day Grub Match" took place at The Culinary Institute of America's Hyde Park, NY campus, where four student teams were given access to a variety of products from PepsiCo's food and beverage portfolio. They were challenged to incorporate at least three PepsiCo products into a Super Bowl inspired recipe. Food Network star and CIA alum Anne Burrell hosted the culinary competition. The dishes were evaluated by an all-star judging panel comprised of New York Jets' Pro Bowl center Nick Mangold, James Beard Award winner and CIA alum David Burke, The Culinary Institute of America's Senior Director of Food and Beverage Operations Waldy Malouf, and PepsiCo's Kalil.

As "Game Day Grub Match" finalists, the student teams will sample their culinary creations at various events during Super Bowl week. The two dishes will be tasted and voted on by a distinguished group of professional chefs and NFL athletes participating in this year's Taste of the NFL "Party with a Purpose," an annual event that rallies top chefs and NFL players to raise money in support of food banks throughout the U.S. Anne Burrell will announce the winning team during "Party with a Purpose," and the PepsiCo Foundation will also make a $50,000 donation to Taste of the NFL to support food banks across the country.

PepsiCo also plans to allow its fans to get a piece of the Game Day Grub Match action. Beginning Tuesday, January 20, consumers can submit their own Game Day Grub Match video recipe ideas via Instagram using the #InstaGrubMatch hash tag. PepsiCo will select a winning recipe and award a two-day culinary boot camp at the Culinary Institute of America. More information and instructions on how to participate is available on PepsiCo's Game Day Grub Match website.

The Super Bowl represents the culmination of a season-long activation for PepsiCo and its brands, which include Pepsi, the sponsor of the Super Bowl Halftime Show; Doritos, which is back this year with its hugely successful "Crash the Super Bowl" contest; Gatorade, which fuels athletes on the field and is a staple of Super Bowl sidelines and locker rooms; Tostitos, which will transform two city blocks in Phoenix into the official party destination of Super Bowl Central; and Quaker, a supporter of Fuel Up to Play 60, an in-school nutrition and physical activity program launched by the National Football League and the National Dairy Council.

December 15, 2014

The UNCLE BEN'S® Brand named Cai Killings of Pembroke Pines, Florida, one of five grand prize winners of the Ben's Beginners™ Cooking Contest. The nationwide contest encourages children to make healthier meal choices by getting them interested in cooking at an early age. The Ben's Beginners initiative is designed to empower parents to connect with their children one meal at a time and bring families closer together.

"It is very important to get kids in the kitchen at a young age and educate them on nutrition and how fun cooking healthy meals with their families can be," said Lara McCauley, Vice President of Corporate Affairs, Mars Food North America, the parent company of the UNCLE BEN'S® Brand. "Through our Ben's Beginners movement we are excited to know that we helped bring families together in the kitchen as well as at the dinner table."

Cai Killings was one of 25 finalists selected from hundreds of entrants in grades Kindergarten through eighth. Entrants submitted videos of themselves and their families preparing a rice-based dish and discussing their experience cooking together as part of the third annual cooking contest. Cai was selected as one of five grand prize winners and awarded with a $30,000 school cafeteria makeover, a $15,000 cash prize and a hometown celebration at Franklin Academy with New York-based celebrity Chef Marcus Samuelsson.

"We're so excited to have been chosen," said Shavon Killings, Cai's mother. "Cai is an aspiring chef, and he jumps at every opportunity to help out in the kitchen. This contest has been a wonderful experience for him and our entire family. It's fueled Cai's passion and allowed us to meet so many new people in our community who have shown support for what he's doing."

September 25, 2014

Adrianne Calvo is chef, author, television personality, and restaurateur. Calvo is the owner of the highly acclaimed Chef Adrianne's Vineyard Restaurant and Wine Bar in Miami, Florida and host of Maximum Flavor Live. Calvo has authored two cookbooks, with one on the way. She is also the founder of the Make it Count Foundation. In an intimate interview, Calvo talks about success, business, and adaptation.

The 30-year-old culinary icon is not shy to share her point of view on success. Over a tall cup of coffee at an infamous local chain, Calvo states that she attributes her success to staying focused, making wise choices, most of the time, and staying the course. "There's ten million distractions, and things that can pull you away from your dreams and goals, it takes so much willpower to say no to those things. In the end, you have to know that if it doesn't propel you forward, it's actually holding you back," says Calvo.

"You have to have a lot of faith, and be prepared to sweat a lot," she says. "I didn't have an investor's wallet to run to when things were tight in the beginning. I could only count on my vision and pray to God every day to give me the strength to see it through. If you want to open your own business, do it, but make sure you are ready to undertake a risk that will consume you completely."

Calvo's 60-seater in suburbia has managed to survive the economic fallout of the decade by adapting without compromising. "We worked on a skeleton staff, we offered a discounted menu, but we always kept up our quality, never compromising excellence," she said. "As a business owner, you have to be in a relationship with your business, you have to know it, and know it well, therefore, you learn to adapt. And in adaption lies success."

September 12, 2014

Diageo honored spirits, wine and beer distributors at the Eleventh Annual Golden Bar Awards which took place at a number of awards events and presentation ceremonies across the country. The Golden Bar Awards are presented for excellence in sales, marketing and promoting responsible drinking.

Larry Schwartz, President Diageo North America said, "Diageo works with the best distributors in the business, and the Golden Bars are a way for us to recognize the outstanding performance and hard work that helps to drive the business forward."

The Golden Bar Awards, held at multiple locations across the United States, celebrate distributors and brokers for their excellence in the marketplace and the important role they play in their communities. The gold awards recognize distributors and brokers for performance across Smirnoff, Johnnie Walker, Baileys, Captain Morgan, Tanqueray, Crown Royal, Ketel One, Ciroc, Sterling Vineyards, Beaulieau Vineyard, Chalone Vineyard, Acacia Vineyard, Rosenblum Cellars, Guinness, Smithwick's, Red Stripe and PABs. Gold awards are also given for innovation, consistency and quality. The two platinum awards are given for advancing responsible drinking. The grand prizes go to the distributors of the year.

In total 32 statuettes, 30 made of 24 carat gold, and two made of platinum, were awarded to distributors. Each Golden Bar statuette weighs eight pounds, stands more than a foot tall, and is produced by R.S. Owens, the company that created the Oscar®, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Click here for the categories and winners for the 2014 Golden Bar Awards.

September 09, 2014

Nicky USA’sWild About Game, an annual celebration of all things game, took place on Sunday, September 7, at the historic Timberline Lodge in Timberline, Oregon. The Seattle vs. Portland cooking competition between eight celebrity chefs ended with Chef Shane Ryan of Matt’s in the Market restaurant in Seattle taking home the trophy as the Judge’s Choice with his rabbit dish. Ryan also won over the crowd of more than 500 attendees and was honored with the People’s Choice award, the first time since the annual cook-off started in 2001 that a single chef won in both categories.

Chefs from Portland and Seattle went head-to-head, each pair cooking a different type of game. Representing Portland were chefs Jason French of Ned Ludd, Joshua McFadden of Ava Gene’s, Josh Scofield of Toro Bravo, and Jin Soo Yang of Bamboo Sushi. Coming in strong for Team Seattle were Mike Easton of Il Corvo, Shane Ryan of Matt’s in the Market, Rob Sevcik of Loulay, and Jason Stoneburner of Bastille Café & Bar and Stoneburner.

The judges for this year’s competition were Samantha Bakall (Food & Dining writer, The Oregonian), Jessica Colley (New York City food writer), and Allison Jones (Online Editor, Portland Monthly), with Katie Okumura from the Tom Douglas Radio Show as the MC.

Throughout the day, attendees were able to sample dishes from the competing chefs, enjoy specialty food and beverages in the Artisan Marketplace, and get an industry insider perspective on the culinary bounty of the Northwest. The weekend celebration kicked off with a Grand Dinner the evening before the competition, by Jason Stoller Smith of Timberline Lodge and Aaron Barnett of St. Jack, the winner of Wild About Game 2013. As this year’s winner, Ryan will cook the Grand Dinner to precede Wild About Game 2015. Visit nickyusa.com for updates on next year’s competition!

August 22, 2014

Fans of American lamb are in for a culinary treat on Sunday, September 28, as the Lamb Jam Finale returns to Savor the Central Coast, an award-winning food and wine festival sponsored by Sunset Magazine. Four of the nation's top chefs will compete for the title of "Lamb Jam Master" in a head-to-head culinary battle. To reach the finale, chef contenders proved they had the chops by besting dozens of other chefs and winning hundreds of lamb fan votes based on inventive lamb dishes in their respective city's lamb jam competitions.

The finale's four competing chefs, hailing from opposite ends of the country (San Francisco, Seattle, Washington, D.C., and New England), will sample their winning lamb recipes to hungry lamb fans and a panel of national food media judges. Fans and judges will cast their votes to decide on the 2014 Lamb Jam Master.